


Power Trouble

by exaltioras (orphan_account)



Category: Cookie Run (Video Game)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, depressed little bastard man and mr 'im gonna commit arson right now'., fireherb........ should get more attention, for the lord of ash chapter, i guess uhh implied depression?, i really like fire spirits new costumes, oops! all gays!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-29 02:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20074639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/exaltioras
Summary: Fire Spirit's lack of control over his powers makes his mood shift dramatically, and sometimes he needs help to calm down.





	1. Lord Of Flame

Herb’s and Fire Spirit’s friendship is a funny thing. They grew close when Herb made it rain for the forest herbs, only to have Fire Spirit and Wind Archer get caught up in it. Herb had offered his umbrella to Fire Spirit, and the next thing they knew they were texting and talking every day whenever they could. Today, they’d been texting all morning and afternoon, well, it was more like Fire Spirit had been spamming Herb ’s notifications all day. That itself is out of the ordinary. At first, Herb was honoured that a _ legendary _ of all people would want to talk to him so much, but then it got… concerning. 

“AHAHA!! My kitchen’s on fire! It looks fuckin SICK” 

After that particularly cryptic text from Fire Spirit, Herb had set off to find and calm him. Of course, he has no confirmation anything’s actually wrong aside from the kitchen being on fire (it's not.. Uncommon for things to be on fire around him); FS isn’t one to talk about his emotions, but nothing seems right about what’s going on. 

Upon finding Fire Spirit, Herb comes to understand the situation somewhat.

Shaking uncontrollably, Fire Spirit jumps at the crackling of his own wild flames, all while maniacally cackling. Though, his laughs sound more akin to screams. It’s loud, and it’s scary, and Herb thinks Fire Spirit might be scared too. He can’t just leave him like this. Herb can’t hear himself over the roaring laughter and flames, so he can only pray Fire Spirit can. “Fire Spirit! Fire Spirit c- calm down!”

Fire Spirit whips around and grins. “HERBIE! HAHA, I must be too bright to look at right?” He howls haughtily and floats a little closer to Herb. He’s right, Herb thinks, he’s just as bright as the sun. His wide eyes and girn glow brighter than Herb can handle. It’s… almost beautiful- No! He doesn’t have time for those thoughts! Especially not now!

“Well, am I? HAHA, I TOTALLY AM! Hey don’t look for too long you might go blind, but I don’t blame you for staring!” Fire Spirit’s smartass remarks snap Herb out of his daze  
“N-no! Well, a little bit but- Fire please come outside with me. You’re about to burn your house down!”  
“Let it burn! It’ll be fun!” Somehow, Fire Spirit’s grin widens more. So much that Herb feels his face might split in half.  
“N.. No- Fire please just come with me. You uh.. You can burn something outside!” He’s _not_ _really_ going to let Fire Spirit do that. The lie works though, and soon enough Herb has him outside.

Getting Fire Spirit outside was.. A struggle, but Herb pulled it off. Navigating the rocky and cracked paths of Dragon’s Valley wasn’t too difficult to Herb, as he’d visited many-a-time before. The difficult part, however, was listening to Fire Spirit brag about his achievements and laugh. Constantly. For the whole half-hour, they were walking. The land Herb takes them to has no structures to be burned, A couple of trees but with Fire Spirit, as he is, they won’t be around for long. Herb finds it hard to breathe, maybe it’s the dry air. Maybe it's the scorching heat from the sun beating down on him and the spirit before him. Maybe it’s because he’s afraid.

Looking over Fire Spirit, Herb notices much, much more. 

Contorting his face, Fire Spirit’s grin becomes unnatural and warped, looking more like a grimace by the second. As he shifts around he winces at every movement, but staying still looks worse for him. Shaking with every breath, Fire Spirit laughs more and more until he’s just screaming.   
“You need to calm down, _ please. _” Herb isn’t entirely sure when he grew brave enough to talk, especially now, “Fire Spirit you’re in pain. I need you to calm down so we can fix this.”   
“I’M NOT IN PAIN AT ALL! I FEEL AMAZING!” Fire Spirit lies through his grit teeth and tries to grin wider as if proving a point. Herb sighs, this isn’t going to work. 

He looks at his leaf umbrella, then looks at Fire Spirit.

“HAHA! You can’t keep your eyes off me huh? But can you even look at me properly?” He cackles again, then shudders at his own exaggerated movements.

Herb could make it rain- that’d extinguish enough of Fire Spirits flames for him to calm down... No, no. That’d be cruel. The poor guy is already in enough pain as is. 

“Are you too nervous to answer me? AHAHA!! There’s no need to be shy! I don’t think _ anybody _ can look at me! I’m too bright for everyon-”  
“How do you feel right now?”  
Fire Spirit ignores that Herb cut his egotistical rant short.  
“I FEEL LEGENDARY!”  
Herb looks up at Fire Spirit, eyebrows furrowed with a small frown playing on his lips; “Does it feel good though?”

Fire Spirit falters for a moment. It _doesn’t_ feel good. He knows it doesn’t; he knows that Herb knows that too. He’s not weak though. He’s not too weak for his own flames. “IT FEELS.. VERY POWERFUL! THIS IS THE TRUE POWER OF FIRE!”  
“Are you going to be okay like this?”   
“OF COURSE I AM!! You shouldn’t doubt me!” Despite his claim, Fire Spirit grimaces and whimpers as his flames grow brighter still. Herb sees him float away, just a little, and curl in on himself slightly. Fire Spirit squeezes his eyes shut, and forces his grimace to become a grin.

“You’re not okay Fire Spirit. It’s alright.”   
“I’m more than okay Herb! THIS IS THE BEST I’VE EVER FELT!” Fire Spirit’s bottom lip wavers as he holds back a sob.   
“Fire… try and cry it out, okay?” Herb takes a step closer, tempted to hold Fire Spirit’s hand. “The strongest people I know cry; we all need to do it at some point.” 

Lowering himself to the ground, Fire Spirit allows himself to cry. He stops himself from moving as though he’s crying- no hunched shoulders or shaking, but Herb can see the steam rising from his eyes. Herb’s eyes begin to feel misty, also. The two stare at each other in silence for a few seconds, before Fire Spirit giggles as he sobs, shoulders shaking. Herb starts laughing too, stress and anxieties leaving his mind as he and Fire Spirit cry together. It’s not loud, nor is it scary like before. 

“I can use my rain to help cool you down. you only need to come out from under the umbrella a little if you feel like you can take it.” Herb scoots a little closer, then holds out his leaf umbrella to Fire Spirit. Taking a deep breath, Herb allows for the rain to wash over them both as Fire Spirit huddles under the umbrella. Fire Spirit watches as the droplets soak into Herb’s clothes and skin, and slide off his waxy leaf hair. The rain looks.. Almost inviting. Slowly, cautiously, Fire Spirit reaches out of the umbrella, towards Herb. With a sharp hiss, the cool rain extinguishes the painful flames covering Fire Spirit’s arm. Sucking in air through his grit teeth, Fire Spirit soon allows himself to relax and sigh in relief; the rain might be hurting his arm, but it hurts less than the rest of him. 

Shakily, Fire Spirit edges out from under the umbrella and allows the rain to soak him to the bone until his flames are extinguished to a safe extent. The umbrella tumbles to the floor as Fire Spirit runs up to Herb and wraps his arms around him. Oh so gently, Herb places his hand around Fire Spirit’s cheek, stroking his face with his thumb. Fire Spirit leans into the touch as Herb makes the clouds disperse, allowing the sun to shine down upon them. The two laugh as they hug, Fire Spirit pressing his forehead against Herb’s. Slowly, their laughter dies down as they close the gap between their lips. Both shaky and filled with relief, they kiss each other, tender and sweet.


	2. Lord of Ash

Everything went back to normal for a few weeks. Fire texted every day, like always. They talked more now since the two shared a kiss. Preferring not to bring up the subject, Herb had waited for Fire to mention it- though that got him nowhere, really. Fire had mentioned it once, and had declared, “Ahaha we’re best bros dude that happens sometimes.” Herb, quite simply, just does not agree with that statement at all. He put that thought to rest, if Fire thinks they’re just friends, then they’re just friends.

After Fire brought it up, he didn’t text for a few days. That’s normal, Herb figures, people get busy. A few days turned into a week, a week turned into two, all with no word from the spirit. Herb tries not to worry, he really does. Maybe there’s no signal in Dragon’s Valley; maybe he’s just busy with the other legendaries! Though… disappearing for so long with no prior warning is unlike Fire.

Rolling over in his cocoon of blankets, Herb checks his phone again. Then once more. And again, and again, and again. Still nothing from Fire. Groaning, he looks at the time: midnight. Herb rubs his eyes and places his phone down on his bedside table. Slowly, he allows himself to drift off to sleep.

ZZZZ. ZZZZ. ZZZZ.

Who the fuck calls someone at 3 AM? Herb grabs his phone and squints as the bright light burns his eyes. Fire Spirit calling? Is he for real? Resting his arm over his eyes, Herb sighs as the buzzing drills into his head. 

Fire calls one, two more times before Herb responds with a text.

“Sorry sorry! I just woke up! Are you alright? What’s wrong?” He falters before sending the text; he felt… bad ignoring Fire’s calls. But then again, after ghosting him for two weeks, calling at 3 AM was maybe the worst thing Fire could have done. But what if this was an emergency, what if this was urgent? What if-

Herb’s overthinking was cut short as he got a notification from Fire. 

“Leave me alone.” 

Okay.. okay. What is _ wrong _ with him? Herb sits up groggily and yawns as he messages back, grimacing when he thinks about Fire not messaging him back, or even being ruder.

“Fire, you called me three times just now. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be left alone, what’s going on with you?”  
“It doesn’t matter. Nothing does, so just go away.”

Herb chokes on a breath he didn’t know he was holding and wipes away the wetness near his eyes. Fire doesn’t mean that- he might be a little mean without realizing, but he wouldn’t say something like that if he was _ okay. _

“Fire, I’m coming over. Please stay safe.”

Upon arriving at Dragon’s Valley something feels off. Everything looks the same as it always had done every time Herb visited; the rocks are still pointy and dangerous, the paths are still broken, but something feels undeniably… _ off. _ The air is dry and hot as always, but it somehow feels colder than it has done before. Gulping, Herb heads towards Fire Spirit’s home, the atmosphere only becoming more despairing as he treads onwards. Herb opens the unlocked door and makes two observations. It’s quiet. Far, far too quiet to be Fire Spirit’s home. Cold, too. Herb shivers as he searches around the house.  
  
“Why are you here?” Jerking forward, away from the sound, Herb frantically darts his eyes around the dark room before noticing a stranger. “I told you to leave me alone, why didn’t you listen to me?” The stranger sounds… heartbroken, confused and wholly upset by Herb not listening to him. Wait… stranger? Herb thinks back to how awfully Fire Spirit had talked to him when they were texting- but this man sounds so different! His voice is monotone and quiet, absolutely nothing like Fire Spirit’s!

The lights flicker on as the stranger presses the switch, causing him to wince. He must’ve been in the dark for a very long time.   
  
“... Fire, what _ happened _ ?”  
  
There’s no flames, no brightness, no cocky smirk Herb had grown to find charming and maybe even cute. Fire Spirit became a scowling, ashy shadow of himself. Herb takes a moment to take in Fire Spirit’s .. new look. Honestly; from his glowing black and red eyes to the black and red crop top and the tattered, messy black cloak, Fire Spirit looks like he just stumbled out of a hot topic after years of being lost among its wares. Herb did _ not _ think he’d own that kind of stuff at all.  
  
“It doesn’t concern you, go away. I just want to be alone.” Fire Spirit mutters, folding his arms. Gazing into Fire Spirit’s somewhat teary, tired eyes, Herb can tell that’s the opposite of what he wants, and definitely not what he needs. “Please, just.. _ Go _ .”  
“Being more isolated isn’t going to help you, Fire Spirit. I’m going to help, like last time.” Herb states calmly, before moving over to the spirit to hug him comfortingly. “.. You’re cold.”  
“I know.”  
“Let’s get you warmed up then.” Herb pats Fire Spirit’s back as he bends down to press his head against the top of Herb’s. Quivering, Fire Spirit grips onto Herb’s sweater like a lifeline and allows himself to weep quietly at the affection. 

Gently, Herb runs his fingers through Fire Spirit’s ashy hair; he remembers a joke that Fire Spirit told once, about how nice it is to have someone run their fingers through his hair. Herb _ assumed _ the joke is that Fire Spirit is constantly, well, on fire. He’s not now though. Startling a bit, Fire moved away from Herb’s touch before not-so-subtly pressing his head against the palm of Herb’s hand. … Despite the joke, Herb notes that Fire Spirit looks like he really enjoys having his hair pet. The two make their way to Fire Spirit’s living room and sit on his somewhat ratty, old couch- he’s really got to replace it, but he says it's “comfortable” and “well-loved.” Resting his head on Herb’s shoulder, Fire Spirit lets Herb play with his hair as he sleepily closes his eyes. Reaching to his side, Herb grabs the corner of one of Fire Spirit’s so-called “decorative blankets” (or as Herb likes to call them, “blankets he just threw on the sofa because he didn’t know where else to put them”) and wraps both himself and Fire Spirit up for warmth. 

The intimacy between them is… most likely going to be ignored once Fire Spirit feels better, or maybe talked about once and be chalked up to “we’re just bros.” Herb really hopes that doesn’t happen again, his heart wouldn’t be able to take it. He’s too tired to think about this. Herb yawns and curls up against Fire Spirit, then slowly falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so this got kinda long so i split it into two chapters lol

**Author's Note:**

> before i actually got into cookie run, i only really knew about herb and fire spirit and a liiiiiitle bit about their personalities. A friend and I made a huuuge AU for it and this is just 2 scenes from it LOL- i thought theyd make like.. a nice short multichap story! cus this is my first upload on this account comments are greatly appreciated!
> 
> tumblr is @firespirits


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